Poland will take half a century to catch up with the West

In these above mentioned countries folks can afford a decent apartment after working a 40 hour week. In Poland for your work you receive half the money that your French or German comrades do, and yet everything costing twice as much. Poland is a typical emerging free-market rip-off.

Who gives a crap, I'd rather live in Poland than Germany anyday! Not to be offenseful or anything....

It takes time, guys, after a while it will level off and it won't be necessary to leave your country in order to be able to support your family.

I'd rather live in Poland thats as well off as Germany :) The report is rubbish, the changes have been happening pretty fast thus far i see no reason to believe the 50 years claim.

I wouldn't diss Poland too much. I was with an older Polish guy tonight, exchanging ideas. He is happy that communism is behind him but saw the merits in it. The sharing and the overriding ethos appealed to him in a way. It is not about catching up, it's about making an adjustment between 2 fundamentally different ideologies. Even in my drunken haze, I can see this clear as day.

Westerners, comment at your peril. You guys really understand little as to how communism works in an operational sense. If communism was always such a scourge, then the Russians are the most retrograde sons of bitches in the world.

France did not fight in WWII and had to be rescued by the Americans - and therefore preserved her wealth and social well being - which thrived after the war. Paris is one huge monument to cowardice.

Germany fought a losing battle and was rewarded afterwards by the Americans to keep out of future trouble. America (and alies) rebuilt germany and now it thrives.

Poland fought alone for God honour and Country and in doing so lost everything. It was then betrayed and sold off to the retarded communists which stripped Poland of any remaining dignity and soul. Poland was held back for 50 years. Poland is just starting to recover and rebuild her cities. The above comment is ignorant and imature.

It will take some time for sure but let's not lay the blame solely at the feet of others. There were many fans of communism in successive Polish governments, let's not kid ourselves.

Poland will take half a century to catch up with the West

And in a lot of ways, the west should try and catch down with Poland.

Lets make it clear - these 'fans' of communism were part of the same retarded communists I refered to earlier. These 'people' would not have had any serious influence had Poland not been betrayed.

Poland as a sovereign democratic country as a whole did not want to be communist. Who are YOU trying to kid?

Geez, lad. You really represent the young generation. So many old people here harp back to the days of communism. Were your earplugs in at that time??? After Balcerowicz and his band of merry men cocked up the reform process to capitalism proper, many lost confidence and looked afresh for the certainty that communism provided.

Better the devil you know than the devil you don't for some people.

It's called brain washing. Poland is split in half. Under 35's/ over 35's. Most of those over 35 are brain washed - by the communists. I don't mean in a 1960's Sc-Fi show way but in social/behavioural/mentality/attitude way - being more soubtle or not depending on character.

Finally, some recognition of this fact. There was an embracing of change. People wanted it too quickly and became disillusioned when it didn't happen as they'd've liked. Communism was a known variable, worth sticking with for many.

Do you really think they would want to go back to that? From what I gather, communism typically meant standing in line for 3 hours for toilet paper?? Even you can't spin too many positives about communism.

You have strayed from the original discussion - we were talking about Poland being forced into communism and you saying 'there were many fans of communism in successive Polish governments, let's not kid ourselves' - and I was saying that Poland did not want communism. You were making out as if the Polish government was responsible for commi rule which it wasn't. Poland was sold out which gave the commi minority power to link up with rest of commis.

Cities are building by the working masses who toil to struggle and justice against imperialist capitalist war monger and his running dogs. Notice idea of Juche and Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea

I'm fully aware of the history of it. Sorry, there were many who supported communism. This notion that it was a completely evil idea is just wrong. Many went for it and miss those days. You don't believe me? Ask the older generation.

Perhaps they are able to rent decent flat, however they have many poor district as well. I don't buy any idealizations of western Europe. Often they are subsided by the state but socialism is unhealthy in longer run. They waste capital earned by older generations.

Goods in Poland are cheaper than good in the west, so your information is very incorrect. The same about last sentence. Free market in Poland vanish, this is emerging socialism. Year by year this damn state is more and more socialistic.


Really? How is 'progress' in North Korea these days?

Most goods are cheaper, lesser, not all.

It wasn't evil per se but it was pretty stupid and inefficient. For Christ's sake, just look at that Polish Dentist thread Hair Ball posted; most of the dentist's didn't even have novacaine to dispense. How would you like that? Anybody who misses communism is probably just a lazy bum or something.

Oh, I agree with you Wahldo. Half the world doesn't say 'the scourge of communism' for no good reason. I wasn't setting out to defend communism. More to make the point that somehow it had a steady following in some quarters.

Baffling, yes, but true!

the under 35 crowd is just as brainwashed - by Clear Channel and the like. Don't joke yourself, you are just as brainwashed, not by Communists but by advertisers, MTV, corporate media, the list goes on comrade. A nice long stay in political re-education camp will be good for you, where you will learning the beuty of the collective and drop pretention to your bourgeois ways!

Old good leftist ways how to solve problem with everybody who disagree with them. :) Apparently I also need such treatment, do you know any specific location?

lesser, you have a sense of humour;)

there always a place in a gulag (work-based friendship centre for retraining of cadres in revolutionary fervor) for one such as yourself and what what

I hope it takes forever to catch up. Thes Western World is a crap hole

Catching up to crap hole status is not painting Poland in a favourable light, Castanea. Maybe put it a different way?

Oh, dear, basic maths is obviously not that journalists forte.

Compound interest, with Poland having a 5% higher growth rate than, say Germany, will require only 13 years to catch up. Also, in the early years Poland presumably had a slower rate of growth than it currently has.

One of the worst in the [b]developed[/b ]world


guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/17/internationalaidanddevelopment.usa

I didn't know I was rich. My healthcare is very good here.

The way things are going in economy, and with all that financial genius of the West Poland doesn't have to catch up with anything. The West is catching up with Poland really fast.